Wednesday, February 2, 2011

It only seems fitting that on National Signing Day we are moving on to a new site and are taking our talents to the Bloguin Network. Finding the new site will be easy, just drop the blogspot from the title so we are now just simply CollegeFootballZealots.com. The Bloguin team has also re-designed our site and has made us a cool new banner that looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Over the next few days there will be some tweaks to the new site but it is up and running and functional so head on over there and check it out and drop us some feedback. If you have a subscription to our rss feed you can update to the new one which is http://www.collegefootballzealots.com/rss.

I have really enjoyed the first year of this blog. Writing and reading what others have wrote and making connections with other bloggers out there that have helped us along the way and I look forward to more of the same as we approach our second year.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Yesterday I took a look at the top uncommitted prospects left on Alabama's recruiting board. Today, I'll be giving you a couple of prospects that are currently committed elsewhere who the Crimson Tide has a legitimate shot at landing on Signing Day. Of course, turnabout is fair play, and while Bama is looking to pick someone else's pocket, others are looking to get their hand in Bama's. We'll start by taking a look at some current Tide verbals who may end up wearing something other than Crimson next season.Tide Commits On The Move...?

The long-time commit currently finds himself on the wrong end of the Tide's numbers crunch. Bama is currently carrying way more verbal commitments than they actually have room to accept (around 10 more, to be precise) and looking to add a few more. In particular, they're a bit overstocked at the wide receiver position with 4 true WR commits and a few more guys who can play the spot but may go to defense. Of the 4 true WRs, Collins is by far the least heralded. It may sound harsh, but he's the sort of solid player with some upside that you take as insurance in case your bigger targets don't pan out. Unfortunately for Collins, Bama hit it big with nearly all of it's WR targets, namely Marvin Shinn and Danny Woodson, Jr. As of today, Bama is still willing to honor Collins' commitment but only with a greyshirt offer (meaning he won't be able to join the team on scholarship until next spring). Obviously that's not the most desirable situation for a recruit, so, with the blessing of Bama's coaching staff, Collins has recently been exploring his options with Kentucky, Louisville, and Southern Miss. Of the three, Kentucky seems to be his most likely destination, if he wants to play next season.

Another long-time commit that's recently been taking a look around. Fanning is quite a physical specimen (6'6", 285 lbs.) with huge upside but is rumored to be a longshot to be academically eligible to enroll this fall (not surprising for a guy who's bounced around to four different high schools), and there's some scuttlebutt that the Tide wouldn't be disappointed if he committed elsewhere so they don't get a surprise in August if he were to somehow get eligible and have to conjure up a roster spot for him. Fanning spent this past weekend on an official visit to Auburn but hasn't talked to the media since, so it's unclear where he stands right now.

This one is all hunch. Luatua has gone almost totally under ground since his commitment to the Tide in June. He has taken no official visits and hasn't talked to the recruiting media in months. But it sure is a long way from La Miranda, California, to Tuscaloosa. And just because it hasn't been documented in the press doesn't mean he hasn't been looking. I'm not going to call for it, but don't be surprised if he ends up signing somewhere closer to home tomorrow.

My Best Guess: Sticking with Bama

As of today, I think every other Tide commit is as solid as solid gets, and it would be a major surprise if anyone other than these 3 went elsewhere. Now we'll hit the flipside.

I'm not going to rehash the sordid details of this one. If you need to, you can catch up here, just scroll down a bit. I think most Bama fans had written off Calloway following that whole fiasco. But apparently Nick Saban hadn't. He convinced Calloway to take an unexpected official visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend and made one last push to convince him to sign with the Tide. How successful was he? Calloway isn't talking. To anybody. And likely won't until he signs his LOI tomorrow. However, it's worth noting that at the same time Calloway was on his visit, his adoptive father was quoted in an incendiary article lambasting the way his son switched his commitment and not-so-subtly knocking the credibility of Auburn's coaches. While his father did say the ultimate decision would belong to Calloway, I think it's safe to say which choice the family supports. And you really can't underestimate that. So it would seem the late momentum is with the Tide. But the Auburn coaches are nothing if not dogged recruiters (to put it nicely) and they tend to not lose guys once they get their hooks into them.

If the rumors are to be believed, Therezie actually contacted Tide coaches and said he would be committing to Bama at the Under Armor All-American game. But then the game came and he instead announced for Auburn. He's since remained committed to the Tigers but has also kept his ears open to other overtures, and Bama has stayed on him. In fact, it could be argued the Tide has more momentum with Therezie than Auburn, despite maintaining his commitment. But like I just said, for whatever reason (coughcough), this AU staff doesn't lose guys too often.

My Best Guess: Sticking with Auburn

So for those of you keeping track, I've predicted Bama to pick up one uncommitted prospect tomorrow, lose one current commitment, and strike out on their two main committed targets for a net of...0. Watch out for Nickolas Brassel, though. And there may be a little more smoke coming from Jeoffrey Pagan than I previously gave us credit for.

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